Industry News
Beginner terrain at Alta Ski Area, UT, will be “severely limited” early season due to supply chain issues affecting the completion of the new Sunnyside lift. The resort made the announcement in a social media post yesterday.
The Sunnyside chair (and the now defunct Albion) serve the Albion base area and the resort’s only green runs. Until the Sunnyside opens beginner terrain will be confined to rope tows and the Snowpine lift.
Alta opens tomorrow for its 85th winter. The resort is already reporting 101″ of snow for the season and a 51″ base and will be running Collins, Wildcat, and Sugarloaf lifts tomorrow and adding the Supreme chair on Saturday.
Full statement from Alta below:
Update on the Sunnyside six-pack lift construction:
Global supply chain issues have delayed the delivery and installation of some key elements of the new Sunnyside lift. Unfortunately, the Sunnyside lift will not be finished until mid- or late-December. In addition, the Albion lift will not run for the first few weeks of the season due to the construction of the nearby Sunnyside lift.
Alta’s beginner terrain offerings will be severely limited for the first few weeks of our 2022-23 season. We are very disappointed that we cannot provide more beginner terrain for our skiers at this time.
Our teams are working around the clock to prepare the mountain for our 85th Opening Day on Friday, November 18th. We are working towards opening Collins, Wildcat and Sugarloaf lifts with groomed and off-piste skiing.
Learn more about the Sunnyside lift construction: https://www.alta.com/sunnyside
The Sunnyside project was approved in 2017 as part of the resort’s master development plan. As part of the plan, the new chair makes the Albion lift redundant, so it has been removed.
“The new lift would serve the functions of both the existing Sunnyside and Albion lifts, making Albion lift unnecessary. Coupled with its age and condition, this makes removal of the Albion lift appropriate at this time.”
– Project Master Plan
The Albion lift was installed in 1976. It rarely ran and was used as a backup out of the Albion base area if the Sunnyside lift broke down.
Alta replaced the Supreme Chair in 2016 and in 2018 added a new chair to the Snowpine Lodge.
